


A Fire For your Flame

by F4n_Fricken_Tastic



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - School, Assault, Awkward Carlos, Awkwardness, Car Accidents, Cecil Palmer is a Mess, Child Abuse, Crying, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Original Character(s), Physical Abuse, slowburn romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F4n_Fricken_Tastic/pseuds/F4n_Fricken_Tastic
Summary: In a world where Night Vale is just a child's overactive imagination and where sweet summer children set fire to buildings for their friends.
Relationships: Cecil/Carlos
Comments: 39
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> :)

**this chapter is an introduction and is not the official chapter 1**

Hey guys. F4n here.

Have you ever read a Night Vale school AU and wanted to gouge your eyes out?

Yes?

Good. We suffer together.

Well recently my beta sent me a cursed school night vale fanfic.

And I thought; "How do these guys screw up so badly?".

Well long story short:

I decided to make a school AU fanfic (with many yelps of "OH GOD NO" from my beta).

Well, anyways...

I'd better get to making a proper chapter for this thing.

See ya then!

Yours truly

-F4n.


	2. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite summer child made it into a great school and maybe even makes a friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so freakishly long and 99% was written by my beta.
> 
> The original chapter had roughly 720 words, but then she took one look at the short chapter and said: "wow. You suck.".
> 
> So thanks to AK47real1 for basically writing this entire chapter while still finding time in her day to insult my writing skills lol

He was on the schoolbus, in his seat. He had a case of the jitters and could not sit still.

But would you be able to sit still if it was your first day at a new school?

After weeks of trying, he'd finally done it. He'd gotten into the school.

He'd studied for days, learning his multiplication tables, practicing his spelling, and even yes, long division.

He was proud of himself. He had learned that 12x12 was 144, and that the word "necessarily" was overly complicated and dumb to spell.

And then he'd taken the test.

And he'd passed!

He was finally going to go to the school!

The bus lurched and came to a stop.

The school! It looked so cool!

Kids started filing off the bus. He followed, grinning.

He checked the slip of paper which showed him a map of the school. 

On the first floor there was the gymnasium, the cafeteria, the nurses office, and the library.

On the second floor there was the grade 4-5 classes and the computer lab, and on the third floor there was the 6-7 classes.

He was headed to the second floor, where his homeroom was.

Fortunately, he found his class without trouble. Unfortunately, he was four minutes early, and the teacher wasn't there yet.

Oh well. It was his fault for going to class before the bell rang.

He waited outside the class, a bit nervous.

Then the teacher came.

She looked middle-aged, with her slightly grey hair in a tight bun behind her head.

She looked at him with some confusion.

'Are you lost?' She asked.

'N-no... Sorry, I'm new here..' He mumbled.

She smiled, realizing who he was.

'Oh! You're my newest student, aren't you?' She asked.

He nodded.

'Well, nice to meet you..' She began, 'Sorry, what was your name again?' She asked.

'My.. My name is Cecil. Cecil Palmer.' He said.

'Right! She said, 'Nice to meet you Cecil.' She said, smiling.

The bell rang. 

Time for class, Cecil thought, grinning.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

It was lunch hour when it happened.

Cecil had finished his lunch early, so he was chilling outside. He hadn't really been bothered by anyone, nor had anyone other then the teachers addressed him.

The closest he'd come to having an interaction with another student was when a kid wearing flannel, a lab coat (?) and worn-out glasses had glanced at him (probably) accidentally.

It was fine. Cecil was used to being alone.

He was sitting at the far side of the school, with his back to the wall, sketching pictures of monsters and gruesome scenes.

Kind of odd for a twelve-year-old to sketch stuff like that, but nobody seemed to care.

He hummed to himself quietly, adding some extra details to his latest sketch. 

Then THEY came.

"Them" being the infamous posse of thirteen-year-olds who never got in trouble.

Their leader was this brat named Telly, who was the Dean's son. Telly was infamous for getting his cronies to pin people down whilst he cut their hair to incredibly short lengths.

People called them the "Nutty Fruitbats" despite their constant demands to people to call them the "Ferocious Four".

Cecil noticed them immediately. They were watching him pointing and muttering things.

The leader of the group, Telly, nodded, and the a member of the posse looked directly at him.

Here comes trouble, Cecil thought.

'Oi! You!' One of them yelled to him.

He ignored the kid.

'You with the girly drawing book! Come over here!' The kid yelled aggressively.

Its a sketchbook, you Muppet, Cecil thought.

Cecil didn't move an inch.

The posse looked furious. The leader, Telly, whispered something to one of the members of the group, to which the entire posse began to make their way towards him.

Finally, Cecil thought, their going to cut my hair.

He really needed a haircut and didn't have the funds to get a haircut, so he'd pissed them off in hopes of them cutting his hair.

Unfortunately for Cecil, nothing was free and, as it turned out, the posse had bought new BB guns and needed a test subject.

He didn't know that yet though.

Once the posse was near him, he glanced up.

'Hey dumbass, why've you been ignoring us?' The leader, Telly, asked rudely.

'Oh, I'm sorry. I only answer to my name.' Cecil said, closing his sketchbook and placing it neatly on the ground beside him.

'So your like a stupid dog? Hah!' Telly snarled.

'Wait.. If he only answers to his name, does that mean that we have to guess it so that he'll speak?' One of the members asked Telly stupidly.

'Shut it Marcus. I already told you, I know who EVERYONE is.' Telly said to his low-iq "friend".

Cecil rolled his eyes.

'If you know who "Everyone" is, then who am I?' Cecil asked.

Telly snorted. After all, he "Knew who EVERYONE was". And how DARE Cecil speak to him like that. Did he even know who he was speaking to!?

'You're Cecil Palmer. I thought you knew? Or did your parents never teach you your own name?' Telly snarled mockingly.

That asshole-! Cecil thought, clenching his fists.

'Ooh... Did I hit a nerve did I?' Telly mocked.

'What the heck do you want?' Cecil asked.

Telly smirked.

'Me and my gang got some new BB guns,' he began 'and we need a lab rat. I guess a mutt will work too though.' Telly said, looking triumphant as though he'd just said something funny.

BB guns? Seriously? That's not even that bad- Cecil's line of thought was cut off by Telly.

'We also got some new BB's. Metal BB's.' He said, smirking.

Ah. That was bad, Cecil thought.

'Can't you just go shoot some trees?' Cecil asked, trying to stay calm.

Telly had this shit-eating grin on his face.

'We did. The trees have holes in 'em now.' Telly said smugly.

Crap.

'Now sit still, mutt, or this'll hurt more.' Telly said smugly. He turned to one of his cronies to give him his BB gun.

Idiot, Cecil thought, standing up at his full height. 

Sure, yeah, Cecil might've been younger then Telly, but he was taller.

He was about two full inches taller then Telly to be exact.

Telly turned around to see Cecil, who was no longer sitting.

'Oo so scary~ Big spooky tall boy~.' Telly mocked.

'Leave me alone.' Cecil said, very clearly.

'Nah. I don't feel like it.' Telly said.

He pointed the BB gun at Cecil, who instinctively put his arms in front of his face.

Two shots. One on each arm.

Telly was an egotistical pompous airhead and nobody could do a dang thing about it.

The young Cecil held back tears. The BB's were imbedded into his flesh, and it hurt so much.

'Feeling regret, mutt?' Telly said, smirking.

Then something dropped on Telly's head.

The thing exploded and glitter went everywhere.

'What the-!!?' Telly began, looking around, 'This is the work of those DAMN scientists! I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL KILL THEM!' He yelled. 

'We'll go get the pink panther.' One of the cronies said looking at another of them. 

They left.

'Then I guess we'll wait for that stupid fucking hen.' One of the posse members said, standing beside Telly.

...What..? "Hen"? " Pink Panther"?? Did these kids have obsessions with animals or something? 

Telly turned to Cecil. 

'Well mutt, it seems that you're in for a treat. You'll get to see my KILL some fucking wannabe "scientists".' Telly said.

Wait what? Kill?! 

Telly pulled out a switchblade.

'I'd prefer a turkey dinner, but I wouldn't say no to some fried chicken.' Telly said.

The other cronie laughed.

And then-

'AHh!' Telly yelled, before falling over unconscious.

The other cronie and Cecil looked over to see a kid wearing flannel, with some taped-together glasses and a lab coat. He was holding a very junky piece of an electric fly-killer with exposed wires.

'HOLY SHIT YOU KILLED HIM!! THE HEN KILLED TELLY!!' The cronie yelled, jumping backwards and running away.

Cecil looked at the boy.

'What... What is that thing?' Cecil asked the boy.

'A homemade taser.' The strange boy replied.

Wait what??

A TASER!? That was so cool!

'Wait, are you one of those sciencey-people that they mentioned?' Cecil asked.

The boy brushed his black hair from his face.

'I'm Carlos the Scientist.' The boy, Carlos said.

'Nice to meet you, Carlos the scientist. I'm Cecil the not-a-scientist.' Cecil said.

The scientist looked at Cecil curiously.

'Not to be rude, but how do you get your eyes to do that?' Carlos asked.

'Do what?' Cecil asked.

'Be purple. I've never seen purple eyes.' The scientist said.

Cecil raised an eyebrow.

'Your the scientist. Maybe do some hipothysees or whatever they are to figure it out.' Cecil said with a slight laugh.

Carlos seemed to cringe at the word "hipothsees".

'Its "hypothesis". And hmm... My hypothesis is that.. You're weird.' Carlos said.

Wow. So blunt.

'Says the weird scientist with a zap thing.' Cecil said.

Carlos looked at Cecil with uncertainty.

Then he noticed something.

'Your arms are bleeding.' He said.

'He shot me, so I'm not surprised.' Cecil replied, wincing.

He'd been so distracted by the arrival of the odd scientist that he hadn't realized how much his arms hurt.

'You should go to the infirmary.' Carlos said.

Cecil shuddered. He didn't trust doctors or nurses.

'No. I don't want someone making a huge scene about a few bits of metal.' Cecil said.

Carlos looked at him curiously.

'Maybe my friend could help you then? Her parents work at a hospital and she read their medical books.' Carlos suggested.

'Will she make a huge scene about a bit of blood?' Cecil asked

'No. Maybe. I'll bribe her with a granola bar so that she doesn't.' Carlos said.

Cecil considered for a moment.

'Sure. As long as she isn't all fussy and asks about my "health".' Cecil said with a shrug.

'She won't. Maybe. Probably not.' Carlos said, uncertain.

Cecil shrugged.

'Works for me.' Cecil said.

Cecil bent down and grabbed his sketchbook off of the ground.

'Alrighty. Let's go find my friend.' Carlos said.

Cecil nodded, and together they went to go find Carlos's friend, who Cecil guessed was the "Pink Panther".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow ak47real1 is so good at writing and shes also so hot and always brushes her hair and wow so amazing am I right?
> 
> Totally not AK here after hacking F4ns account. Nope. Totally F4n here.
> 
> Jk I'm totally AK47real1 haha sucker ;)
> 
> Join the cult of brown haired Cecil or I'll eat your teeth and slap you.


	3. A very troublesome Telly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil "discovers" an attic.
> 
> Meanwhile Carlos has an unusual reaction to getting his parents called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you AK for helping me :3

Finding Carlos's friend proved to be more difficult then Cecil anticipated. 

For starters, it seemed that even Carlos didn't know where she was. They'd checked the chemistry lab and art room, computer lab and janitors closet, but she wasn't anywhere.

'She's really good at hiding.' Carlos had said, shrugging.

At the moment, the two boys were wandering around the 3rd floor, looking for this "friend". Cecil was starting to doubt that she was even real.

Suddenly, Carlos stopped. He was looking at a very particular ceiling tile.

Cecil looked at it too.

Was it just him or did it seem out of place?

'What's wrong with that roof piece?' Cecil asked.

'My hypothesis is that someone's in the attic.' Carlos said.

Attic? 

The scientist glanced around the hallway he was in, noticing a broom leaning innocently against the wall.

He grabbed the broom and pushed upwards, forcing the tile out of place.

Cecil glanced upwards and saw what looked like a dimly lit room.

Wow, Cecil thought, an attic!

'Hmm... Normally the ladder would've fallen down by now. She must be hiding from the Fruitbats.' Carlos said, with a slight frown.

'Is this like a secret mad-scientist lair?' Cecil asked.

Carlos shrugged.

'Hmm.. How am I going to get up there?' Carlos asked, looking at the dimly-lit room above.

He looked around, hoping to see a chair or stool. But there wasn't one in sight.

Then he seemed to get an idea.

The scientist turned to Cecil, who eyed him with suspicion.

'Hey wait.. You're tall..' Carlos began.

'Yes? Why is that important?' Cecil asked, raising an eyebrow.

'So as a tall person, could you perhaps give me a boost up so that I can grab the ladder?' Carlos asked.

No. Most certainly not. What did Carlos take him for, a chair? Cecil thought.

'No. Nope. Nah.' Cecil replied, shaking his head.

'But don't you wanna see the cool attic?' Carlos asked innocently.

Cecil shrugged.

'Pretty please?' Carlos asked.

Ugh. FINE, Cecil thought, I'll be your dang ladder.

'Fine.' Cecil said.

The scientist stood on Cecil's shoulders and hoisted himself up into the attic.

He then grabbed the ladder and lowered it down for Cecil to get up.

The ladder was made of ropes, duct tape and old chunk's of wood.

It didn't look very safe, but whatever.

Cecil climbed up and saw the attic.

It was... AWESOME!

Carlos pulled the ladder up and put the tile back into place.

'This place is so NEAT!' Cecil said, looking at all the cool old stuff in it.

It looked like it had been a place where students hid contraband stuff. Like pocket knives, squirt guns, cheat sheets and a bunch of other stuff that Cecil couldn't even identity. The tile that he and Carlos had entered through was almost like a trapdoor, as the rest of the floor in the attic was old boards and the tile was the only non-board part of the floor.

On his first day, Cecil had already A) made a friend and B) been taken to a cool hidden lair!

So cool!

Cecil noticed some old shower curtains stapled together and taped to the ceiling making another area in the attic.

Carlos walked towards the curtain and pulled it sideways, revealing a cozy-looking makeshift room.

And Cecil noticed a desk. And sitting at that desk was a girl.

Well it seemed that the friend WAS real after all.

'Well 'cmon Cecil the "not scientist". Do you want to not have BB's in your skin or not?' Carlos said, gestsuring for Cecil to go into the makeshift-room.

Cecil walked in and looked around. On the large shower curtain there was a bunch of badly-drawn plans for inventions. There was also an old desk in the corner with two stools at it.

There was also a worn out beanbag in the other corner with duct tape on the side of it patching the rips and tears.

Carlos walked over to the girl, who, Cecil noticed, had earbuds in and hadn't noticed them.

Carlos tapped the girl on the shoulder and she reacted by nearly falling out of her chair.

Once she realized that it was just her friend, she removed one of her earbuds.

'Oh, Carlos. Its just you. Good.' She said.

'Nils, who else knows about the attic?' Carlos asked.

The girl, Nils looked past Carlos and saw Cecil, who was still looking around the room in awe.

'Well for starters, him. Carlos who IS that?' Nils said, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

'Oh yeah. That's my new friend Cecil.' Carlos said, shrugging.

'OK so?? Why would you bring him to the attic!?' Nils said, frowning.

'Because Telly shot him with metal BB's and he got hurt and doesn't like doctors.' Carlos said, shrugging.

The girl, nils, sighed.

'So what I'm guessing is that basically you said; "okfollowmeihaveasmartdoctoryfriendwhollprobablymaybehelpyou"?' Nils asked.

'Look Nilanjana. Its fine. He actually stood up to Telly. And we all know that whoever does that is trustworthy.' Carlos said 

Nilanjana raised an eyebrow.

'What animal did Telly call him?' She asked.

Carlos hadn't actually heard what animal Cecil had been called. And Carlos knew that if Cecil hadn't been called an animal that Nilanjana wouldn't trust him whatsoever.

Cecil looked at Nilanjana.

'He called me "mutt".' He told her.

Nilanjana snorted.

'That's so uncool. At least I actually have a cool animal nickname.' She said, smirking.

'I take it you're the "Pink Panther"?' Cecil asked.

Nilanjana smirked smugly.

'Yup. I got that nickname after I spraypainted one of Telly's goons pink and put cat ears on his head.' She said.

Spraypainted..?

'That's... Neat?' Cecil said, sounding slightly unsure of his own words.

'Very neat.' Nilanjana said, grinning.

'Anyways nils, can you perhaps get the BB's out of his arms before lunch hour ends?' Carlos asked.

Nilanjana shrugged.

'Sure I guess.' She said.

She opened the desk drawer and pulled out some magnetic tweezers, some Band-Aids and some of that injury-disenfecting liquid. 

She then gestured Cecil to sit at the desk while she got the BB's out of his arms. 

The procedure of getting the BB's out was painful. Very painful.

But after they were out, there was a lot less pain.

'Alright, done.' Nilanjana said once she was finished.

'Thanks.' Cecil said. He was very glad that the BB's were out and that Nilanjana hadn't made a huge fuss about them.

Nilanjana checked the time on her phone.

'The bell is going to ring in like, ten minutes. We should probably skidattle before staff and students come up to the third floor.' She said.

So the three of them walked out of the makeshift-room into the main part of the attic.

Carlos lifted the tile and peeked into the hallway.

'All clear.' He said.

They quickly lowered the ladder and got down, before Carlos grabbed the broom and pushed the ladder up and put the tile back into place.

The three went downstairs to the first floor and went to the library.

Nobody needed to know that they'd even been in the super secret attic.

They sat at one of the tables and talked quietly.

Lunch hour was almost over, and the two boys of the group thought that maybe, perhaps, they'd gotten away with defending themselves against Telly.

They were, of course, not going to get away with it. But they didn't know that.

Not even two minutes later, the secretary of the school spoke over the loudspeaker.

'Can Cecil Palmer and.. "Carlos the Scientist" please come to the office?' Said the loudspeaker.

'Oh my god. What did you two do?' Nilanjana asked.

'Er... I pissed whats-his-face off I think..' Cecil said.

'I... Uh... I kinda tased Telly a little bit after throwing a glitter bomb at him..' Carlos admitted guiltily.

'Idiots.' Nilanjana muttered, facepalming.

The two boys left the table, asking Nilanjana to keep their stuff safe as they went to the office.

They walked to the office. Both of them seemed extremely nervous.

'Ahh no... The Dean's going to call my parents..' Carlos said, gnawing on his fingers nervously.

'He's not going to call mine. He can't call mine.' Cecil said. He was also nervous.

He was getting in trouble on his first day!

'Why can't he?' Carlos asked, still gnawing on his fingers.

'You can't call what doesn't exist.' Cecil said.

Carlos didn't ask anymore questions. Mostly because they'd arrived at the office.

Cecil opened the door.

Inside was Telly, looking smug and pompous as ever, and the Dean, who looked furious.

Shoot, Cecil thought, he's probably going to expel me! Or something!

Cecil, though nervous as he was, was also kind of mad. He hadn't even done anything!

But stupid Telly was going to spread some nasty stories, according to what everyone had said about Telly.

'Sit.' The Dean told both Cecil and Carlos.

They sat, because quite frankly, the Dean looked terrifying and neither wanted to anger him more.

'So,' The Dean said once they were both seated, 'My son, Telly, told me that you two attacked him. Care to tell me more?' The Dean said

'I was sitting outside doing sketches and Telly came up to me and started insulting me-' Cecil tried to say, but was cut off by the Dean.

'That's not what Telly told me. He said that he just wanted to welcome you to the school and you insulted HIM.' The Dean said. 

Telly had this smug look on his face. 

'But Mr. Dean Sir, its true. I saw and heard most of the scuffle, and all Cecil did was ask Telly to please leave him alo-' Carlos tried to say, but like Cecil, he was cut off by the Dean.

'Carlos, your already in great trouble for bringing an illegally produced taser to school. Don't make things worse for yourself.' The Dean said, sounding furious.

'He only used the taser because Telly shot me!' Cecil said, rather angrily.

'Mr Palmer, my son knows the rule about weapons at school. Your pathetic story about being shot by "Telly's BB gun" can be proven false, as Telly doesn't even own a BB gun.' The Dean said, glaring at Cecil.

'But I have the holes to prove it!' Cecil huffed.

'You can't get injured from something that innt real.' Telly said innocently.

I see your horns beneath your halo, Telly. I see them, Cecil thought.

'But-' Cecil began, but was, once again, cut off by, you guessed it, the Dean.

'Mr Palmer, since you're new here and may not know the rules, I will only be sending you home with a warning,' the Dean began, 'but Carlos, you have been here for over a year. You know the rule about weaponry. You will be getting a three day suspension and I will be calling your parents to pick you up.' The Dean finished.

If there had been any color left in Carlos's face, it was gone at the word "parents".

'N..no I'm s-sorry please don't t-tell my p-parents..' Carlos stuttered fearfully.

Telly looked smugly at Carlos.

He obviously knew something about Carlos that Cecil didn't. Then again, Cecil knew next to nothing about Carlos.  
  
'No Carlos. Your parents need to know that you keep breaking rules. I thought you'd stop after what happened last time, but as they say; "Once a rule-breaker, always a rule-breaker.' The Dean told Carlos.

"Last time?"

Hmmm, Cecil thought, what does he mean by "Last Time"?

The Dean told Cecil and Telly to go outside his office while he called Carlos's parents.

'Wow mutt. You actually almost convinced my dad that I wasn't innocent. That's never happened before.' Telly said, genuinely impressed.

'What, so you've never gotten in trouble before?' Cecil snapped.

Telly scoffed. 

'No mutt, of course not. Most of these "meetings" are just my dad sending these morons home without letting them get a word in. I'm impressed that you even got to say what ACTUALLY happened.' Telly said.

'People like listening to my voice.' Cecil said rudely.

'Whatever. I can't wait to see Hen on Thursday. He's gunna be sooo fucked up.' Telly said, smirking.

Yep. Telly definitely knew something that Cecil didn't.

'How so?' Cecil asked, glaring at Telly.

'You'll see mutt. You'll see.' Telly said, grinning.

Hmmm...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving on "hmmm"
> 
> I'll try and update soon :)


	4. Blackness and Bloodshed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telly interrogates Cecil and it ends in bloodshed.
> 
> Nilanjana breaks Telly's jaw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the bad chapter. I honestly haven't been feeling well.
> 
> Sorry. I'll try and make a better next chapter.
> 
> Constructive criticism in the comment section is welcome.

After Cecil had been sent home on his first day of school, he promised himself that he wouldn't get into any more scuffles.

But after he'd promised himself that, he'd thought of Carlos and his seemingly unusual reaction to his parents getting called on him.

Like how he'd nearly burst into tears when they'd walked into the office, how he'd tried, desperately, to break away from his own mother's grip.

Was that normal behavior?

Cecil did not know.

The next day, Cecil had gone back to school after promising the Dean that he wouldn't get into anymore fights or arguments with anyone.

He'd tried to keep his head down and keep himself out of trouble.

And it had been working. Nobody had noticed him for an entire day.

Secretly, he was seething inside. For starters, how had the Dean known about Telly shooting him with, specifically, a BB gun? Cecil had not even mentioned the BB gun. 

But anyways... Nobody had paid any attention to him for a full day.

Except on Wednesday.

Wednesday was the day that Telly had approached Cecil once again.

Cecil had been in the library. He hadn't been doing anything particularly "annoying" that day. 

All he'd been doing was reading a book about hacking into radio waves.

And Telly had swaggered up to him and sat himself down at his table. Telly had been grinning smugly at Cecil.

Ignore him, Cecil had thought, just ignore him.

Telly waited until the librarian was out of the room to strike.

'Wow mutt, I didn't think you'd read a dumbass book about "Radio Hacking". You seemed more like a comic type of dude.' Telly sneered.

Ignore him ignore him ignore him ignore him ignore him ignore him ignore him ignore him.

Cecil didn't say anything.

'Oh mutt, why are you ignoring me? I can get you expelled for doing that.' Telly smirked.

Cecil decided to change his survival tactics. He knew that Telly could actually get him kicked out of the school with some crocodile tears and some crap story.

So he, reluctantly, acknowledged Telly's existence.

'Why do you desire my utmost attention?' Cecil asked sarcastically.

Telly smirked. He obviously didn't catch the sarcasm.

'Oh, well I just wanted to give you an update on the little Hen.' Telly said, trying to sound nonchalant and innocent.

Wait what? Wasn't "The Hen" Carlos the scientist? Cecil's friend?

'Hm.' Was Cecil's reply. He had tried to sound bored and uninterested. 

'Yeah. That lil bastard sholdnta jabbed an electrocutor into my back.' Telly droned.

Where was he going with this conversation? Cecil didn't know.

'But anyways mutt, I had to go to Hen's house yesterday, so I beat 'him up as a revenge. See? Lookit my fists. They're all bruised an' stuff.' Telly said, revealing his bruised knuckles.

Cecil had many many questions.

'And then the 'lil Hen was... "Thrown into the coop". Gettit? 'Cus chickens?' Telly joked.

'I literally have no clue what you mean.' Cecil said, shaking his head.

Telly rolled his eyes in a way that suggested that Cecil were just some idiot who "didn't get the joke".

'Ugh. I take it you don't know then, mutt?' Telly scoffed.

'Know what?' Cecil asked.

Telly rolled his eyes.

'Figure it out.' He said rudely.

Ugh. Why joke about something that Cecil obviously wouldn't get?

'Anyways mutt. I'm gunna ask ya a few questions.' Telly said. 

'What?' Cecil asked Telly.

Seriously? An interrogation?!

'I'm asking the questions, not you!' Telly snapped.

Jesus, anger issues much?

'Anyways. First question. Do you know which student is the "Pink Panther"?' Telly asked.

Wow. First a story about Telly assaulting his friend, now an interrogation?

Cecil decided to mess with Telly. Just a little bit. It was too irresistible.

'Student? I only know the detective movies. The ones with the animated panther and the real people?' Cecil said.

He was just messing with Telly. Just a bit. It had just been irresistible.

Of course he knew who the "Pink Panther" was, whether it be the movie character or Nilanjana.

Telly glared at Cecil.

'I know that you know the girl. Not tall, longish hair, asshat? My pal Teddy Williams said he saw you, her and Hen in the library.' Telly hissed.

'Ohh... She was the "Pink Panther"?' Cecil asked innocently.

Telly looked like he wanted to throttle Cecil.

'She brags about it all the time. There's no way that you didn't get that.' Telly sneered.

'Hmm... She mighta mentioned painting someone to look like a pink kitty, actually...' Cecil said, with a fake look of vague remembering on his face.

Telly clenched his fist.

'She knocked Teddy out and made a fool out of him! That's not just "Painting someone pink"!' Telly huffed.

Cecil would only mess with Telly a bit more...

'But... She's ten. He's what, thirteen? How would she've knocked him out?' Cecil asked.

'How the fuck should I know?!' Telly said, getting to his feet.

Messing with Telly was priceless.

Because, as Cecil had vowed to himself when he was eight; "If anyone hurts my friends I'll hurt you".

And, apparently, according to Telly, he'd beaten up Cecil's scientist friend who he'd known for about a day now.

So Cecil was just going to screw with Telly a bit until he had verification that Telly had been telling the truth.

'But didn't you say that you knew everything about everyone? So shouldn't you knoe if there was like a secret magic power that "Pink Panther" has?' Cecil asked politely.

Telly looked utterly furious with Cecil.

Alright, Cecil thought, that's enough messing with him-

Wait, why was Telly holding that metal water bottle?..

Huh?

Wait-

Cecil didn't see much. He felt dizzy. Then he saw blackness.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Nilanjana had to kick Telly in the jaw. Multiple times.

She wasn't a violent person normally, unless it came to the safety of people she knew, or the safety of herself.

And so when she saw Telly start talking to Carlos's friend, Cecil, she knew that trouble was near.

She'd snuck behind one of the bookshelves and pushed some of the books out of the way. She had also hit the "Record" button on her phone, making it so that if Telly tried anything, she'd catch it on video.

She'd heard their entire "conversation" from start to finish.

Telly had been bragging to Cecil about beating up Carlos, to which Cecil looked absolutely disturbed.

Then Telly had begun to question Cecil about her, Nilanjana.

But Cecil had played dumb.

And Telly, horrible Telly, had grabbed a metal water bottle and had begun to club Cecil with it out of sheer anger.

And Nilanjana had run out from her hiding spot and defended Cecil, by breaking Telly's jaw.

Her phone recording had caught all of this.

Telly was now shrieking, whereas Cecil seemed unresponsive.

Nilanjana's shoes were smeared with blood. Her hands too.

She needed to get a teacher though! Both Telly AND Cecil were injured! More importantly Cecil though!

She ran out of the library, tracking blood everywhere she went. 

Telly's shrieks had probably alerted a teacher, right?

Yes. The shrieks and yells of Telly must've alerted a teacher.

She ran into the hallway, where she saw one of her teachers, Ms Opal.

Ms Opal immediately spotted Nilanjana, as she was the only student covered in blood.

'Nilanjana!? What was that scream?!- Is that blood!!??!!' Ms Opal asked her concerned.

'Telly started... A fight with Cecil Palmer... Telly hit C..Cecil with a metal.. Thing. You need to help!' Nilanjana told Ms Opal, sounding out of breath.

'What?! Take me to them!' Ms Opal ordered.

Nilanjana and Ms Opal made it to the library, where a small group of concerned students had gathered around the two bloodied boys.

Ms Opal made her way through the small, shocked crowd, until she was standing beside the two boys.

Telly was bawling his eyes out, while Cecil was still unresponsive.

To think, that only half an hour ago, both of those two had been perfectly healthy.

Nilanjana chewed nervously on her bottom lip.

She wondered about what should happen.

Would Telly get his family to sue Nilanjana for medical bills? Would Cecil ever wake up?

Ms Opal opened her handbag and retrieved her phone. Once she had turned it on, she dialed 911.

She quietly conversed with the operator on the other end, until hanging up the phone and turning to the, still fearful, students.

'Students, I must ask most of you to please return to your regular classes,' Ms Opal began 'But if anyone saw what happened here then please, tell me. I wish to know what happened here before the paramedics arrive.' She finished.

Paramedics?!

Almost all of the shaken kids filed out of the library. 

There had only been five students in the library at the time of the "incident" and two of those five were bleeding on the ground.

Ms Opal looked at the three students who had stayed behind to tell their stories of what happened.

Nilanjana looked around at the other two. She vaguely knew one of the students as she recalled that he was in her chemistry class, but she didn't recognize the other one.

'So,' Ms Opal began 'One at a time, can you tell me what happened?' She asked.

The kid who Nilanjana didn't know raised his hand to speak.

'Yes Hiram?' Ms Opal said, glancing at him.

'Uhh.. Alright, so I kinda saw what happen'd here. So basically purple eyes was readin' an' Telly walked up to him an' they started talking an' Telly kep't gettin kinda mad at purple eyes over sumthin an' Telly hit him with the water bottle. Then the girl poppe'd outta corner an' kicked Telly in the mouth.' The boy, Hiram, explained. 

He hadn't explained what had happened very well.

The other boy, who Nilanjana was pretty sure who's name was 'Mark', raised his hand.

'Mark? What did you see?' Ms Opal asked.

Mark took a deep breath and began talking.

'So I was sitting at that table over there,' Mark said, gesturing to a table in the further side of the library 'And I saw Telly approach... Cecil I think his name is.. And anyways I was trying to do my math work and Telly starts interrogating Cecil. So I was going to ask them to please be a bit quieter right? And suddenly Telly grabbed this metal thing and starts CLUBBING Cecil with it! Then Nilanjana seemed to pop out of nowhere and she like, grabbed Telly and kicked him and stuff. And yeah, now we're here.' Mark finished.

Well, thought Nilanjana, at least Mark did a good job at explaining.

Ms Opal looked to Nilanjana.

'And Miss Sikdar? What do you have to say?' Ms Opal asked.

Nilanjana had never been good at making people believe her word. People just didn't trust her.

'Well Ms.. I'm no good at talking, so why don't I just show you the video?' Nilanjana suggested.

'Video?' Ms Opal asked, confused.

'I recorded the fight, Ms.' Nilanjana said.

Ms Opal looked surprised.

'Let's see this video then, Miss Sikdar.' Ms Opal said.

So Nilanjana showed her teacher the video she'd recorded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drinks blender chips*


	5. Foggy Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil relives his worst memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!! AK47real1 here because F4n is sickkkk.
> 
> She let me write this chap because I nagged her to let me. She said “oh just make some angst that’ll be good enough”. Hah. 
> 
> I made somethin kinda spoopy instead.
> 
> Warnings:
> 
> Blood, car accidents, death, etc.

_ It had been a pleasant evening when the accident had happened. _

_ On the day after Cecil's 7th birthday. _

_ He and his parents had gone to Nevada for his birthday, as Cecil loved the "Weird Alien" stories of the desert. _

_ He also loved the long highways, flat desert terrain, and the beautiful, bright moon. _

_ Cecil's sister, Abby, was at their grandmother's house. Abby was only three years old, and the strangeness of Nevada scared her. _

_ Cecil's parents were driving back to home. Sure, Nevada was awesome, but they preferred the grass and trees of home. Nevada was far too dry for their taste. _

_None of the three knew that this would be the last time that they'd_ _speak to each other._

_ Cecil had been rambling about his favourite topics, Radio and Conspiracy. _

_ 'But what if.. What if there is a faceless old women who secretly lives in our house? Like, maybe SHE'S the reason that all my socks keep disappearing!' Cecil had rambled. _

_'That would be odd. How_ _can someone survive without a face?' His dad had asked him._

_ Cecil had taken a moment to consider this. _

_ 'Well she'd probably be like, outside of time or something!' Cecil had replied _

_ 'Ahhh. That makes more sense.' His dad had said, jokingly _

_ Cecil had nodded.  _

_'And what if the faceless old women was secretly plotting_ _against some people?' Cecil had rambled._

_ 'Who would she plot against? Would she plot with someone?' Cecil's mom had asked. _

_ 'She'd be plotting against... The mayor! With a... Five headed dragon!' Cecil had said. _

_ 'Oh, a dragon?' His mother had asked. _

_ 'Yeah! With sharp claws and lots of fire!' Cecil had said brightly. _

_ His mother had glanced into the back seat at her overly-exited son. _

_ 'Hey Ceece, its past your bedtime.' Cecil's dad had chimed in. _

_ Cecil had frowned. _

_'Nuh uh! I'm going to stay up all night!' Cecil had declared, crossing his arms._

_ His mother rolled her eyes. _

_ 'Cecil, its ten-thirty. You'll have to go to sleep eventually.' His mom had said. _

_Cecil_ _had looked slightly awed._

_'Woahh! Its ten-thirty?! That's the longest time that I've ever stayed up to!' The seven year old had_ _exclaimed, shocked._

_ That would be one of the final moments of speaking to his parents. _

_ A cloud drifted in from of the moon, making the land darker once more. _

_ Cecil's dad had turned the car onto an intersection. _

_ He'd glanced both ways and hadn't seen any vehicles. _

_ Maybe, just maybe, if the moon hadn't hid, Cecil's dad would have seen the semi. _

_ The semi without headlights. _

_ They were crossing the the intersection. _

_ The semi was too. _

_ The accident had been bad. The semi had hit them, their car skidded off the road, and had flipped multiple times. _

_ The first thing he'd heard was the sound of the snap. Then the crunch. _

_ The young Cecil had started shrieking. There was a large metal piece of the car lodged in his shoulder. _

_But that wasn't all the reason_ _that_ _he was freaking out._

_..He had glanced in the front of the car. _

_ The front had been a bloody mess.  _

_ His dad was halfway through the windshield, with one large shard of glass sticking through his back. _

_ His mom had her head stuck at an odd angle, and there was a large chunk of the passenger door lodged into her lower abdomen. _

_Cecil_ _couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. He didn't want to comprehend it._

_ His ears were ringing. _

_This_ _was a probably a nightmare though, right? He'd probably just dozed off.. Right...? Cecil had thought this._

_ But unfortunately, it hadn't been a nightmare. _

_ He heard a slight, strangled breath. _

_ 'C..ceec..' His mother whispered. _

_ 'Mom?' Cecil cried. _

_ No reply. _

_His_ _mother had wasted her last breath to utter his name._

_ And she had, unbeknownst to him, wasted her last movements on turning on the radio for him. _

_ There had been a radio signal from the next town over. _

_Cecil listened. The radio normally calmed him down. He'd closed_ _his eyes tight and listened._

_The_ _woman on the radio had been talking about the evening news._

_ And then- _

_ 'Oh gosh! My coworker has just texted me about a car accident on the highway!' The woman on the radio gasped. _

_'I'm sorry audience, I must take_ _you to this prerecorded audio while I get more info on this accident.' The woman said._

_ Cecil had kept his eyes shut tight. _

_ Over the staticy radio, he had heard a slight dripping noise. _

_He hadn't needed to look to_ _know that it was blood._

_ Cecil had thought that was going to die there, in that crumpled up backseat, with his parents lifeless corpses directly in front of him. _

_He had felt blood from his shoulder slowly drip down his shirt_.

_ He had felt the tears streaming down his face. _

_Cecil had tried to focus on the radio and the prerecorded message, which had been, ironically, about road safety_.

_ Then he'd heard them. The sirens. He'd opened his eyes to see the echo of flashing of red and blue lights through the smashed windows of the car. _

_ As it had turned out, the host of the local radio show had called the police and an ambulance. _

_ He had vaguely heard the concerned voices of the police, the crunch of dried sage beneath their feet as they made their way towards the twisted chunk of metal and glass that had once been a vehicle. _

_He remembered one of the doors being forced open and one of_ _the officers shining a light into the cab._

_He'd wanted to cry out for help,_ _but couldn't find the energy to do so._

_ He remembered the nausea in the pit of his stomach, the shaking of his hands. _

_The officer had looked in the_ _back and had seen the terrified child. The officer called for the paramedics._

_ Cecil remembered the shocked gasps of the paramedics getting him out of the vehicle. He remembered the pain of the piece of metal being removed from his lower shoulder. _

_ He vaguely remembered people making a scene about his shoulder being impaled. _

_Cecil_ _hadn't liked the paramedics being so worried._

_ After all, it had only been a simple piece of metal. _

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Cecil woke up in a cold sweat.

The last thing he'd remembered was being attacked by Telly in the library.

He felt feverish.

Cecil couldn't remember what he had just been thinking about.

He looked around the room he was in, and realized that he was in a hospital. He stiffened.

Cecil did not like hospitals. They terrified him.

Looking around the room, he saw that he was in a private ward.

Weird...

He glanced over at the small table beside him and saw, to his astonishment, that it was piled with gifts.

Why were there gifts?

Cecil looked out of the small window and saw that the sun was out.

He sat upright in his uncomfortable hospital bed.

Why was he even in a hospital? Telly couldn't have hurt him that badly, right?

...Right?

At that precise moment, the door to his ward opened, and a woman who was obviously a nurse walked in.

She saw that he was awake and walked towards him.

'Ah! You're awake!' The nurse said.

She seemed too overexcited. It freaked Cecil out.

Then again, weren't most nurses always acting overly cheerful?

'Uhh... Yeah, I'm awake..?' Cecil replied, sounding unsure of his own words.

'You must be wondering why you're in a hospital.' The nurse said.

Not really, Cecil thought.

'I guess I'm kind of curious.' Cecil said.

He knew exactly why he was in the hospital. It had been because of Telly. He just wanted to know why he was in a private ward surrounded by gifts and cards.

'Well,' the nurse began 'You were hit in the head.' She finished.

Gee, Cecil thought, how informative.

'Is that it?' Cecil asked.

The nurse vaguely shrugged.

'I don't know the whole story.' She said.

'Oh..' Cecil mumbled.

The nurse smiled. 'Oh, but your friend could probably tell you more!' The nurse said brightly.

Friend...?

'Friend? Which friend?' Cecil asked 

'The girl with the foreign sounding name?' The nurse asked politely.

Wait, Cecil thought, did she mean Carlos's friend Nilanjana?

'I think her friend called her "Mils"? Maybe it was "Nils".' The nurse said.

Yep. Definitely Nilanjana.

'Oh, do you mean Nilanjana?' Cecil asked.

The nurse snapped her fingers.

'Ah! Yes, I believe that was her name.' The nurse replied.

Why would Nilanjana know more then the nurse though?

'She and the other boy are outside of your ward if you'd like to see them.' The nurse said casually.

Cecil blinked in surprise.

'Other boy?' He asked.

'The Latino in the lab coat?' The nurse replied.

Ahh. Alright. 

'Oh, um.. Sure I'd like to see them.' Cecil replied awkwardly.

The nurse beamed and left the room, only to return a minute later with Nilanjana and..

Carlos.

'Oh damn! The nurse wasn't lying Carlos! He's actually awake!' Nilanjana exclaimed, exited.

'Yes Nils, I have eyes. I can see.' Carlos replied sarcastically.

Cecil looked at the two. 

The last time he'd been in a hospital, he hadn't been allowed visitors.

'Uh, hi you two..?' Cecil said to the two, clearly confused as to why they had actually bothered to visit him.

'Hi Cecil!' Nilanjana said, still exited. 

'Hello.' Carlos said, waving timidly.

Nilanjana looked really, really happy about something. Cecil wondered what was so entertaining.

'Hey- Hey Cecil,' Nilanjana began 'I broke Telly's jaw.' She finished.

'..What??' Cecil asked, confused.

Why was that relevant? And why did Nilanjana even break Telly's jaw? Cecil had questions.

'Wow Nils. Way to go spill the beans.' Carlos said, mockingly.

'Wait, why? Why did Nilanjana break Telly's jaw?' Cecil asked, sounding thourally confused.

Nilanjana rolled her eyes.

'Its because Telly attacked you, duh. That's why I broke his jaw.' Nilanjana said, crossing her arms.

What?

Cecil had only just woken up, and he had so many questions. 

He hoped they'd all be answered soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angsty enough for ya F4n??? Heh


	6. Some Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil gets a better explanation as to why he's hospitalized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haahh.. Sorry bout the wait. I've been procrastinating/petting cats.
> 
> Also my heart wasnt in this chapter so um its kinda short and bad

The words that Cecil had just been told still hadn't sunk in.

Telly? Expelled? 

What?

He thought back to twenty minutes earlier, when Nilanjana had told him the story about how he, Cecil, had unintentionally helped get Telly expelled from his own dads school.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

**_Twenty_ _minutes_ _earlier;_**

  
'Can you tell me exactly what happened?' Cecil asked.

'Oh, yeah, sure.' Nilanjana replied.

Nilanjana reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone.

She then proceeded to the "Gallery" section, before pressing the "play" button on a video.

Watching the video, Cecil realized that it was replaying his entire "argument" with Telly.

He raised his eyebrow at Nilanjana skeptically before returning his gaze to the small phone screen.

Cecil watched as past him messed with Telly, acted like he didn't know things, and then, the finale.

He gasped as he saw Telly on the small screen clubbing his past self with a metal water bottle.

He kept watching as Nilanjana ran out from behind what was (presumably) her phone and shoved Telly to the ground, before kicking him in the jaw multiple times and running out of the frame.

Then the video stopped.

'What... What the heck?' Was Cecil's only response to watching the video.

'And after that my teacher called the police and doctors and stuff. Then she saw this video and when Telly's jaw was put back in place and stuffs he had to go back to school. Then I showed his dad this video and BAM; expulsion!' Nilanjana explained proudly.

'And now Telly has to go to boarding school.' Carlos added, smirking.

Nilanjana looked at Carlos confused.

'What?' She asked 'How do you know that?'

'The Dean was chatting to my dad about it yesterday.' Carlos shrugged.

Both Cecil and Nilanjana looked at Carlos confused.

'What?' Nilanjana asked, confused.

'Did I not tell you? My dad and the Dean are "buddies".' Carlos said dryly.

Nilanjana looked shocked.

'Is that why you had to spend so much time near Telly??' Nilanjana asked.

Carlos shrugged.

Cecil decided to change the subject back to the whole "Telly getting expelled", because he noticed that Carlos seemed uncomfortable talking about his out-of-school relation to Telly.

'Well anyways,' Cecil began 'How did I help to get rid of Telly?' 

Carlos looked relieved at chance to change the subject.

Nilanjana turned her attention back to Cecil.

'You pissed him off by asking innocent questions, and he retaliated by putting you in the ER. Therefore, you helped.' She said simply.

  
Makes sense, thought Cecil.

'Where did all these gifts come from?' Cecil asked.

'Oh! Right! People loved your extreme bravery of pissing Telly off that they gave you gifts to show that they appreciated your brave sacrifice. Sacrifice being getting sent to the ER.' Nilanjana explained.

Cecil looked surprised. Nobody had ever appreciated him doing things.

'That's... Wow!' Cecil exclaimed.

He decided to ask his next question.

'Hey- um, does anyone know why I'm in a private room?' Cecil asked.

'Because the Dean paid for it. Duh.' Nilanjana replied, rolling her eyes.

Okay, Cecil thought, that also kind of makes sense.

Suddenly, Nilanjana's phone buzzed.

'Oh- I gotta head home! Um, Carlos do you need a ride back to your house? My mom texted me that she'll drive you back if you want.' Nilanjana said.

'Sure. Its a long walk back to my house and I could use a ride.' Carlos said, shrugging.

'Alright, c'mon then. She's outside waiting' Nilanjana said.

So Nilanjana and Carlos left the hospital room, leaving Cecil alone with his thoughts.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

_**Present time;** _

The words seemed to have sunk in now.

Cecil couldn't help but feel a bit bad.

He hadn't even been at the school for one week, and he'd already A) Gotten sent home, B) Been hospitalized and C) Unintentionally gotten someone expelled.

He felt bad for himself. Not Telly.

But... There had been some good things too!

Like making a friend, and finding a secret attic.

Cecil wondered why so much happened to him.

Did he have "Main character syndrome"? Was that even a real thing?

(Yes, he does have "Main character syndrome". Along with "Journalist Disease".)

No, it couldn't be that. It wasn't like he was in a movie or a book or anything like that.

He was still confused though. Why had so many things happened because of him?

Cecil sighed and looked around the room.

His eyes fell upon the table with the gifts.

Right! Gifts..

He decided to open one. Just one. It was small and rectangular. Not too heavy, not too light.

He looked at the neat wrapping job.

It was wrapped with thick brown paper with a silver string tying it together.

He noticed the small card taped to the side of package.

Who would put in this amount of effort for him?

He grabbed the card off the side and read it.

"To Cecil Gershwin Palmer".

It was definitely addressed to him...

He kept reading.

"You and Nilanjana Sikdar have removed Telly from the school. I am grateful. He would always push me around and I, as a man of survival, just went with it. I had to pretend to be a 'Low-IQ moron' so that he did not suspect me of my plot to overthrow him.

Anyways, thank you for dealing with that arse. Here is a gift of my gratitude.

Child billionaire/genius, 

Marcus Vanston." The note concluded.

Wait a moment...

What? "Billionaire"?   
  
That was probably an exaggeration

Cecil did decided to open the parcel.

He tore the tape off the sides and lifted the brown paper.

Under the paper was a small, unmarked, flat, rectangular box.

He lifted the lid of the box carefully to reveal styrofoam.

What was in the box?

He lifted the styrofoam and gasped.

Inside the package, in the box, under the styrofoam, was a phone.

WHAT?! Cecil thought A PHONE!?

No, surely it was a mistake! Nobody in their right mind would give him a PHONE!

He lifted the phone carefully out of the box.

Underneath the phone was a note.

"This is an iPhone 8. Its brand new. I'm giving it to you because I only use the latest models of phone's, and my mother thought that I'd actually use this dinosaur (I would never). I'm giving it to you because I don't need it, but maybe you do. -MV."

wHaT?! This was for real?

Cecil turned the phone over in his hands.

He noticed that it also came with a charger, a cube, earbuds and a case.

He put the case on the back of the phone and admired it.

Cecil had never owned a phone before!

After giving the device some charge, he decided to turn it on.

Once it was on, Cecil had to go through the lengthy process of creating an email, making an Apple ID, and then finally choosing a password.

The entire process was draining for Cecil, who had only ever owned a portable radio before. He was not a very tech-savvy person.

Once Cecil was finally, FINALLY on the home screen, he didn't know what to do. 

So much freedom!

In the end he downloaded YouTube and just watched random Minecraft videos.

After "an hour" (more like 5) of watching the same British guy speak to a Minecraft villager and a dog, Cecil realized how tired he was.

He checked the time, and realized that it was... 9:00?!

He glanced out the window and saw that it was, sure enough, pitch black outside.

Cecil needed to go to bed. He was tired, after all.

He put his new phone on the table beside him, before rolling over and falling asleep instantly.

Too bad his dreams wouldn't be pleasant ones that night.

Too bad.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also this chapter was written by me, F4n, and of course edited by AK.


	7. Non Child-Friendly Household

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos does not like himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is entirely Carlos's POV. And, by popular demand, I actually describe what the characters look like.

Carlos had just been dropped off outside of his house by Nilanjana's mom.

He was worried. He hadn't actually asked his parents for permission to go to the hospital to visit Cecil.

When he'd left, they'd been passed out on the couch. He hoped they hadn't woken up yet.

But if they had, he had an excuse ready.

"I was at the park" he would say if they asked him where he'd been. 

Then again, that was the excuse he used last time. Maybe he'd say "I was at the dump, with my fellow trash.".

Maybe the second one? His dad might laugh at that one and let him go. Wasn't it his dad who was always calling him garbage?

He slowly opened the front door of his house.

His parents were still unconscious on the couch.

Carlos tiptoed as quietly as he could to his room, avoiding every squeaky floorboard as to not wake his parents up.

He was thankful that his room was on the first floor. The stairs to the second floor were very old and made a lot of noise when someone walked on then.

Carlos was positive that, if he'd had to take the stairs, that he would've woken up his parents.

Once in his room, he exhaled. He hadn't even realized that he had been holding his breath that entire time!

He closed his bedroom door, and locked it.

Carlos's room was also the laundry room. His bed was a cheap foam mat laid neatly across the washer and dryer, with one blanket folded hastily on top of it.

Beside the dryer, there was a shelf with a book on plumbing, some laundry detergent and a box of dryer sheets.

There was also some totes in the corner of the room that Carlos had put an old piece of plywood on and called his "desk". At the desk there was an old round of firewood that Carlos used as a stool.

Above the desk was a window that always remained closed, locked and covered. Carlos wasn't allowed to look at the world beyond the window.

Carlos's room was, in one word, depressing.

But he didn't mind! It was better then having to sleep on the ground in the closet of the guest bedroom, right?

He vaguely wondered why his parents had a guest bedroom, yet not a proper bedroom for him.

Oh well, he thought, I probably don't have a decent bedroom as just a punishment for being a disappointment.

He walked over to his desk, which was covered in remnants of old science experiments.

The piece of plywood was littered with various stains, post-it notes, and old scraps of whatever else Carlos had never bothered to clean up.

Carlos noticed an old shard of a mirror.

He picked it up, examining it in his hands.

It wasn't a huge shard. Nor was it a very sharp one.

Carlos remembered finding it outside one day and filing down the sharp points, until he had gotten what he had today.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He had darkish-hispanic skin, black hair and dark-brown eyes.

Carlos did not like his appearance. 

His hair was always the same silly mess, his skin was always the butt of many racist jokes, and his nobody could ever look him directly in the eyes because, according to his mother, "Nobody wants to look at some ugly, whiny bitch.". 

Why couldn't he have just been born as someone slightly-okay looking?

He closed his eyes, sighed, and put the mirror piece back on the desk.

Carlos wondered why anyone would bother to go near him. Like Nilanjana for instance.

Nilanjana was not an ugly person. She, like Carlos, had dark skin. But she had good bone structure, dark brown hair that actually looked decent, and grey almond-shaped eyes. 

Then Carlos thought of his newest friend, Cecil.

Carlos didn't know if Cecil was aware of this, but many people, mostly girls, talked about his looks.

"Hey, you know the new kid, Cecil Palmer? The one who helped get Telly expelled?" Carlos had heard one girl say to her friend the day he'd been allowed back at school. "O.M.G, yes! Isn't he just TOTES GORGEOUS?" The friend had swooned back. "Omygosh, for someone like, two years younger then me he's like a toootal cutie~" the first had replied.

And that conversation continued on through various popular girls joining in.

Even Carlos had to admit that Cecil was, probably, the prettiest person he knew.

Pretty in the weirdest way.

For starters, Cecil had weird hair. Not bad weird, just... Weird.

Cecil's hair was brown, with many strands of blonde scattered through it.

Carlos was almost 100% sure that it was natural.

Next was the bight purple eyes. Everyone wanted to look into them, because, well, they were weird. Weird in the best way.

And skin. Cecil had pale white skin. Nobody that Carlos was aware of had made a single snide remark about Cecil's skin.

In a nutshell, Cecil was everything that Carlos wanted to be, but 10× better.

Carlos wondered why his friends were all pretty. Carlos also wondered why they were his friends.

They probably don't even like you, said a voice in the back of his head, you did approach them after all. 

But Nilanjana never left, Carlos argued with himself, and we've been friends for almost a year!

That's because she pities you, the voice seemed to sneer, and plus, your the loser arguing with YOURSELF.

Then the voice was gone.

Carlos decided to lie down for a bit. Not because he was tired, or feeling sick, but because it was the only thing he COULD do, besides read the plumbing manual for the 5th time, or try and tamper with one of Nilanjana's glitter-bombs. 

He climbed onto his "bed", stuffed his lab coat behind his head, and closed his eyes.

It was peaceful. Serene. Quiet.

No one to bother him, no one to scream at him, nothing.

Well, it was peaceful and serene until his mother woke up.

Carlos immediately sat bolt upright the second he heard movement outside of his door.

Then the knocking on his door.

'Oi, brat! Open up so that I can do laundry.' His mother said.

He shakily unlocked the door for her.

'Wow. Why'd it take you that long to open s goddamn door? Why the hell are you so slow?' His mother asked.

'S..Sorry ma'am.' He apologized.

His mother wrinkled her nose at the 11 year old.

'Yeah, you'd better be.' She muttered, walking towards the laundry machine.

His mother put a basket of dirty laundry into the washing machine, before putting detergent in and turning it on.

Then she turned to face Carlos.

'So,' she began, 'The social worker called today.' She explained, scowling.

Oh no.

'She said that you're "too shy for a kid your age".' His mother continued.

'O-oh?' Carlos asked, trying not to sound as scared as he was.

'Yeah. That fucking Mia. What a fucking retard she is. She said that I have to "Have more conversion's with you about your school lifeee".' His mother sneered.

Carlos didn't know what do say to that so he just stayed quiet. His mother continued talking.

'Ugh. She even told her social worker buddies about how "timid" and "shy" you were. Can't you just get a fucking life and get some goddamn friends? I'm sure some idiot out there will tolerate you.' She said, glaring at him.

'I.. Uh.. H-have friends..' Carlos said quietly.

His mother laughed a dry, humorless laugh.

'Are you talking about that ugly bitch who's always on her damned phone?' His mother asked.

Carlos gulped.

'H..her and... Uh.. My oth-other friend...' Carlos managed to say.

His mother raised an eyebrow.

'Oh yeah. Let me guess. Some ugly, retarded dumbass bitch who's as stupid as you and that other phone girl?' She sneered.

'N-no! H..he's.. He's not any of t-those things!' Carlos blurted out.

Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot!

His mother glared at him.

'Ooh, wittle Carlos finawwy made a fwiend in his own gender~?' She asked in a mock-baby voice.

'Mhm..' Carlos replied quietly.

'Wow, I'm shocked. I can understand phone girl being an extremely desperate bitch, but there's no reason for a GUY to go near YOU.' His mother said sarcastically.

Carlos chewed on his fingers nervously.

'I mean, you're ugly, you're stupid, you're unpopular. There's nothing GOOD about you. Why would anyone willingly be friends with YOU?' His mother asked him.

'I.. I don't know.' Carlos said, looking at the ground sadly.

His mother rolled her eyes.

'Ugh. Whatever. I'll be making dinner if you need to come annoy me.' She said, scowling at Carlos.

'Oh, and also,' she began, narrowing her eyes at him, 'I'm going to drive you to school on Monday. I want to see your little group of misfits that you call your "friends".' His mother finished.

Oh no.

Carlos's mother left the room, leaving Carlos with a single, horrible question.

Will my friends hate me because of my family?

Carlos didn't want to know. But he, unfortunately, had to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cecil's appearance was the result of a deal forged by me and AK. She likes brown haired Cecil, I like blonde haired Cecil... So yeah, Cecil hair by product.
> 
> AK pls dont leave me for liking the blonde headcanon ;-;


	8. Mirror Mirror on the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil has fever dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi its me AK! I wrote this one! ME!!!!!!
> 
> Also this chaptr is a dumb filler chapter and the next one will also be filler but soon jucy cool stuff willbbe haahhashhsdjgfj.
> 
> I can't spell words...

Cecil was confused when he went back to school the following Monday.

Sure, he'd expected some people to maybe know his name, but he hadn't expected EVERYONE to know exactly who he was.

It had taken him fifteen minutes straight to just find Nilanjana.

This is going to be a long day, Cecil had thought.

He was currently walking down the hallway talking with Nilanjana about his phone. The first bell hadn't rung yet, so they were currently just killing time.

'Cecil, that's literally SUCH a great phone! And you say you got it from a gift? Man! So cool!' She said.

'Its a good phone? I really didn't know. I'm not too good with this tech-y stuff..' Cecil replied, shrugging.

People kept looking at them and whispering stuff, but Cecil and Nilanjana paid no attention to them.

They kept walking and taking until Nilanjana suddenly stopped.

She was looking at someone, a skeptical look on her face.

Cecil looked too, and he saw Carlos, who was looking miserable.

Carlos was not alone though. His mother was behind him, scowling.

'Oh no... I see Carlos's mother...' Nilanjana groaned.

Cecil didn't say anything.

He was more focused on Carlos's mother and how scruffy she looked.

Her clothes seemed to have various stains on them, along with cigarette holes burned into them.

She also had greasy hair, and a pinched, rat-like face.

'Yo, Cecil, is she coming towards US?' Nilanjana asked Cecil quietly.

'Ye-?' Cecil began, but couldn't finish.

He couldn't finish due to the horrid scent drifting down the hallway.

It was pungent. It smelled of alcohol, cigarettes and.. Pot?

Cecil wrinkled his nose at the revolting mixture of scents.

Cecil looked back up at Carlos's mother, only to come to the horrible realization that she was standing only three feet away from him.

Carlos was also there, looking as though he'd rather die on the spot then be there. He had his head in his hands and looked as though he was trying to hide, in a attempt for his two friends to not know who he was.

Carlos peeked through his fingers and saw Cecil.

He gave Cecil the most sympathetic look he could before retreating back under his hands.

'Oh hello youngsters~!' Carlos's mother said to Nilanjana and Cecil in an overly-cheerful voice.

The cheerful tone that she spoke in made the hairs on the back of Cecil's neck stand on end.

'Err.. Hi..?' Cecil said awkwardly.

Nilanjana hissed at the disgusting woman in front of her.

Carlos's mother ignored Nilanjana.

'I heard that you two bothered to be friends with my son here~!' She said in the same creepy voice. 

Cecil could tell that her "you two" was only meant for him.

It was eerie...

'Y..Yeah, we're friends with Carlos...' Cecil said, wondering where the conversation was going.

Carlos's mom smiled a huge grin.

Cecil noted that her breath was absolutely foul.

He felt sick by the horrid, pungent smells that came from Carlos's mother.

'Welllll~ Anyways, I'd best be on my way it was.. Nice..Meeting you~!' Carlos's mother said in an eerily friendly voice, before she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Carlos looke

Her disgusting smell lingered, though.

Carlos removed his hands from his face and looked at at his his friends. His face was flushed with embarrassment.

'I..Is she.. Gone?' Carlos asked quietly.

'Yes, she's gone Carlos.' Nilanjana replied dully.

Carlos let out a slight sigh of relief.

And then the bell rang.

'Oh crap- that's the bell! I'll catch you two later!' Nilanjana said, already walking away.

Cecil and Carlos also headed to their classes, and the day finally begun.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Cecil's day was cut short due to him feeling nauseous.

He'd tried to focus, but he hadn't been able too.

One of his teachers noticed that he "looked a bit peaky" and so Cecil had been sent home early.

What kind of person had THIS bad of luck?

He was currently sitting on his bed, staring at his wall unblinkingly.

His room was simple. There was a bed, a dresser, a bookshelf and a window.

There was also a mirror. But Cecil NEVER looked into it.

Mostly because he didn't like being watched by that... Other boy.

After his parents had died, and his sister had been... Taken... Cecil had spent most of his days talking to the Other Boy.

The Other Boy always wore what Cecil wore, and always made the same physical gestures as him.

And after a while, Cecil had begun to fear the Other Boy.

So, he'd covered up the mirrors. He never looked in them.

Cecil was currently home alone, as usual. Well, he was as alone as he could be with the Other Boy constantly being in the mirror.

Cecil didn't mind being home. He was used to being alone, and so he'd grown to like it.

He'd been alone for four years, homeschooling himself and dissociating himself from the rest of the world. He never went outside for fear of death.

The only reason that he chose to reconnect with the outside world was because it probably wasn't healthy to always hide indoors.

So he'd gone outside.

And he'd kept on going outside, despite his fears.

Then he'd decided to go to "The School". The best one in town.

He'd gone for many reasons, but one of those reasons was to associate with other people his age. It wasn't healthy to be alone.

It wasn't good to be alone.

Cecil zoned back into reality.

He looked around his room, noticing that his window was opened.

Who opened his window? Had he opened his window?

He slid off his bed and walked over to his window.

He quickly shut the window, and walked back to his bed.

It was getting late, and he was feeling tired.

He pulled his covers over him and closed his eyes.

It took a while, but he finally fell asleep.

Little did he know, he would have very awful "dreams" that night.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

The world was a mirror.

The Other Boy's face was all around him.

But there was something... Different..

The Other Boy looked as scared as Cecil felt.

Cecil looked into the mirror and saw, to his absolute horror, a creature behind the Other Boy.

It looked like a..

Serpent...

Not the normal kind with scales. A different kind.

It had human skin. It had arms.

It looked a lot like a person, besides the fact that it didn't have legs and that it was tiny.

The Other Boy stared, horrified, at the thing behind him.

Cecil felt pity for him.

Then Cecil felt fear. Something touched his shoulder.

He looked back into the mirror and saw the other boy looking at his shoulder, terrified.

The... Serpent was... Touching the Other Boy's shoulder.

Were he and Cecil going through the same thing? 

Cecil kept his eyes locked on the Other Boy's.

They both looked terrified.

The creature climbed up Cecil's back. Another create climbed up the Other Boy's back.

And then Cecil felt a huge pain in his neck. 

He put his hand to his neck and felt blood.

He gasped, feeling dizzy.

Then blackness.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Cecil woke up in a cold sweat. What the heck had he just been dreaming about?

He had a tendency to forget his dreams.

Cecil glanced out the window and saw that it was still pitch black. Great.

His head was pounding, and he felt groggy.

He groaned, trying to sit upright. 

Then another wave of nausea hit him.

He felt like he might throw up. 

But, just as quickly as the nausea came, it left.

Cecil closed his eyes again.

He was going to try and go to sleep again.

It wasn't like he could have the same dream twice, right?

...Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its-a-me, F4n again!
> 
> In this chapter Cecil not recognising himself is dissociation. :P

**Author's Note:**

> (:


End file.
